A report citing "Taiwan supply chain insiders" states that yields have been too low, which is a problem that should be corrected once Apple's Mesa plant is operational. But an even bigger problem is that using the sapphire now would result in a price hike that would force consumers to dig deeper into their pockets to buy the phone.

On the other hand, the sources from Taiwan indicate that the sapphire glass will still be used on the much smaller screen on the Apple iWatch. The amount of sapphire required to produce the timepiece is much less than that required for Apple's iconic smartphone. Obviously, the cost of the material is much less an issue with the watch display.

The Apple iPhone 5s currently employs sapphire to protect the rear camera lens and the fingerprint sensor embedded in the home button. If this report is correct, we won't see that use expanded to the entire front panel until the 2015 iteration of the iPhone, at the earliest.

using sapphire on a smaller display is what doesn't make sense. a smaller screen is more difficult to crack or break. you can drop a watch and it won't break if it has a gorilla glass because it is lighter and the probability of dropping face down is very low.

if you want to take advantage of the durability of sapphire glass, you have to use it on a larger screen.

High end wristwatches use Sapphire glass because it is extremely hard to scratch...
One of my favorite, a Certina watch... have received many many direct hits to the glass from walls, tables, metal frames, and the likes... and it still like new...

So it really makes sense in a watch, specially since a bigger sapphire for a phone would be very expensive

I doubt they would have to increase the price. The iPhone has one of the biggest profit margins of any smart phone. Plus, image them stating they have an unbreakable screen at a press conference. Apple users would eat that up. Apple makes a ton of money off phone repairs.

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